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I have a 5gal tank with a male betta, and a 10 gallon tank with 3 corys, and a common pleco (I know he will outgrow it eventually, but for now, he is still small).

The pleco used to live with the betta in the 5 gal. but the betta is the meanest one I've ever seen, and picked on the bigger pleco constantly, so I moved him to the 10gal.

Anyway, about every 2 weeks, the algie in the 5 gal gets really bad. So for a couple days, I move the betta to a 1 gal (can't put him in the 10 because he will pick on the corys) and the pleco gets to clean the 5 gal. The SYSTEM works great, but I wonder how much stress I'm causing the fish.

The betta always blows bubble nests while in the smaller tank, and the pleco gets a LOT of food to eat, so maybe they are both happy, but I am concerned.

Any thoughts?

-Dennis

keep him the 1g permanent

Do your fish exhibit signs of stress? Do you acclimate well before switching? This system sounds like it might work well now, but when the plec outgrows the 10, which should be soon, it might be a different story. And is someone gets sick, everyone's going to get sick. HTH
~FF~

-Formerly known as the Ferretfish

The only stress I see is them running away from the net! Once they are switched, they seem perfectly happy, and no signs of disease.

They don't really need aclimating, as both the 10 gal and the 5 gal have the same water conditions, including temp, and the 1 gal I fill from the 5 gal just before I put the betta in it.

GreenMonkey, why do you think I should leave the betta in the 1 gal? It would eventually get algie too, plus the 5 gal is....well....5 times bigger! Also the one gal doesn't have a heater, which doesn't matter now during the summer, but would make a big difference in the winter.

I know the pleco will outgrow this arrangment, and the cold winter will prevent the use of the 1 gal, but for now, it seems to be working, as long as the fish aren't suffering that is. I will have a new plan before either winter, or a giant pleco shows up.

How long have you've been doing this?.

Keep the Betta in the 1gal. permanently.

:88)

http://www.flickr.com/photos/corydoras/
Member of the Malta Aquarist Society - 1970.
http://www.maltaaquarist.com

I've done it 4 times, the switch lasts for 2 days, then about 2 weeks until it happens again. So I guess I've been doing it for a little over 2 months.

Why are people suggesting I keep the betta in the 1 gal permanetly? I gotta say, it's a little hard to except advice when the advice is simply, "do THIS" with no explanation. .

I bought the 5 gal tank for the purpose of getting the betta out of the 1 gal. I also bought a filter I could dial down to a trickle to minimize current. Plus it has a heater. Why wouldn't this be a good setup for a betta?

And either way, we're kinda getting off my original question.

-Dennis

Because a betta can live in a 1gallon with no problem.That would minimize stress on both the pleco and the betta. Thats my reason anyway.